Most of you will have seen the YouTube video of Shane Bitney Crone, young man who lost his partner in tragic circumstances and the aftermath of his death in which he realized that in most parts of the world all love is not equal – It Could Happen To You.

He has now started a project to do a documentary on the subject as part of his contribution to make equal rights for all a reality. He needs funding so why not pitch in and help? It will help him heal and be part of making a difference.

You can’t change history but you CAN change the future! Support Bridegroom the documentary. See us on KickStarter: http://kck.st/Ky24tE

Thank you to the millions of you out there who responded so lovingly and supportively to my YouTube video, It Could Happen to You. Because of you, standing up for #EqualLoveEqualRights, we now have a unique opportunity to turn my small film into a feature length documentary!

The goal is to have this film in theaters by fall, as the national debate on this very important issue comes to a head. But in order to do this, I need your support. I have partnered with the acclaimed creator of Designing Women and producer of the landmark Man from Hope (and other Clinton documentaries) in order to bring Tom’s and my story to life on the large screen—a story that we believe will open a window onto the issue of marriage equality like no speech or lecture ever could.

We only have thirty days to raise this money on Kickstarter. (see link below) No donation is too small. Please join me and support the making of Bridegroom the documentary—a film that began with all of you. And a film that we hope will someday take its place alongside other films that championed civil rights and truly made a difference! We know our opposition will be strong, but we also know our film will be good. We promise. Again, all we need is for you to join our effort to not only change hearts and minds, but make marriage equality a reality for all!

Wow. Thanks to Apolo DAzhero on Google + for pointing this out to me. You need to watch this.

Moisés Kaufman and members of New York’s Tectonic Theater Project went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. This is a film version of the play they wrote based on more than 200 interviews they conducted in Laramie. It follows and in some cases re-enacts the chronology of Shepard’s visit to a local bar, his kidnap and beating, the discovery of him tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, and the trial of his killers. It mixes real news reports with actors portraying friends, family, cops, killers, and other Laramie residents in their own words. It concludes with a Laramie staging of “Angels in America” a year after Shephard’s death.

I had the great privilege of having lunch with him in New York City many years ago. This is a lovely look at Quentin’s life as seen through the eyes of his family.

Born Denis Charles Pratt, Quentin Crisp was a writer, an artist’s model, an actor and a raconteur. He became a gay icon after the publication of his memoir, The Naked Civil Servant in 1968, and even more of a celebrity when the book was filmed in 1975 with John Hurt in the starring role. This documentary asks how such a public figure –– and a queer icon –– fits into ideas of family, and in particular into his own family. Through an exploration of photographs, home movies and interviews with relatives, UNCLE DENIS? reflects on how traditions of familial memory-making intersect with the more public image-fashioning of one of the twentieth century’s most determinedly self-made men. For many of his fans, Quentin was alone in the world, happily separate from heteronormative structures, and yet, he kept close contact with generations of relatives. Filmmaker and great-nephew to Quentin Crisp, Adrian Goycoolea reflects on the relationship Quentin had to the idea of family and his family’s relationship to the idea of Quentin Crisp. While older relations were scandalized by Quentin’s open homosexuality, even younger family members felt a distance between their straight lives and Quentin’s queer public persona. The film analyzes the difficulty of “family” for someone like Quentin, who rejected many social and sexual conventions but nonetheless valued traditional bonds. What emerges is a complex portrait of a complicated man, featuring many, never-before seen images of Quentin Crisp.

My Twitter friend, actor and director Ryan James Yezak releases a powerful look at 30 years of AIDS. So sad that most or even all of those who died could have been saved by today’s medications. If HIV/AIDS was a test of our humanity then many failed the test.

Bully is coming to a theatre near you on March 30. 2012 Bully: This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied, making it the most common form of violence young people in the U.S. experience. Directed by Sundance- and Emmy-award winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, Bully is a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary—at its heart are those with the most at stake and whose stories each represent a different facet of this bullying crisis. Following five kids and families over the course of a school year, the film confronts bullying’s most tragic outcomes, including the stories of two families who’ve lost children to suicide and a mother who waits to learn the fate of her 14 –year-old daughter, incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With rare access to the Sioux City Community School District, the film also gives an intimate glimpse into school busses, classrooms, cafeterias and even principles offices, offering insight into the often-cruel world of children, as teachers, administrators and parents struggle to find answers. While the stories examine the dire consequences of bullying, they also give testimony to the courage and strength of the victims of bullying and seek to inspire real changes in the way we deal with bullying as parents, teachers, children, and in society as a whole. Through the power of these stories, Bully aims to be a catalyst for change and to turn the tide on an epidemic of violence that has touched every community in the United States—and far beyond.

Known more for human rights abuses it is fascinating getting an insight into something a bit6 more positive. The fascinating documentary by Bboy Spaghetti looks at an interesting dancing subculture in Iran – much of it is pretty easy on the eye too.

European Documentary Lesbian and Gay Families, produced by Flg. Available from March 2012. More information familieslg.org.

The Second European Conference on LGBT Families want to share the situation of legal rights and inequality suffered by children of LGBT families in different countries across Europe. We work together with other organizations and governments to make progress on the rights of citizenship.We are expecting between 700 and 800 people from different European countries to attend the Conference. It is our intention to spread the achievements of social rights regarding LGBT people in our country.

The meeting will combine conferences, workshops, shared life experiences and leisure time for all families. It is our main objective to make our families visible and to have an impact on the media in our country and abroad.

In the meeting, we will broadcast our second documentary “Homo baby boom” based on the daily lives of LGTB families in different European countries.

Found these lovely excerpts from an American Experience documentary about the fascinating and groundbreaking poet Walt Whitman and ( to me) one of the greatest poetical works of the 19th century. What an amazing character he was.

Part 2

If you would like to watch the entire documentary, albeit with Spanish subtitles, look no further: